Pune-based Artemon Aerospace has achieved a significant milestone by successfully completing demonstration trials of its canister-launched loitering munition in collaboration with the Indian Army’s Infantry Directorate.

The trials, conducted as part of the Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) initiative, mark a pivotal advancement in India’s pursuit of indigenous unmanned systems and precision strike capabilities. Artemon Aerospace, founded in 2012, has emerged as a key player in the Indian defence ecosystem, specializing in advanced loitering munitions and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

The canister-launched system demonstrated during these trials is a medium-class UAV designed for rapid deployment, versatility, and operation in challenging environments, including India’s western and northern borders.

The UAV features a compact, carbon fibre construction for durability and low radar detectability, and is equipped with advanced electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) payloads and GNSS-denied navigation, making it suitable for modern battlefield scenarios where stealth, endurance, and precision are critical. The demonstration trials showcased the system’s reliable performance, including vertical take-off and landing (VTOL), long endurance, precision targeting, and operational versatility.

The UAV maintained a stable real-time video link over a mission radius exceeding 50 km, with a total range surpassing 170 km and an endurance of approximately 1.5 hours, meeting the stringent requirements set by the Indian Army. The canister-launch mechanism enhances operational flexibility, enabling deployment from ground-based platforms, vehicles, or potentially naval vessels.

Artemon’s loitering munition can carry a 1 to 1.5 kg warhead, functioning both as a kamikaze drone for precision strikes and as a reusable ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) asset, offering tactical adaptability in dynamic combat scenarios.

The system boasts a high degree of indigenous content—about 63% by components and 68% by cost—underscoring Artemon’s commitment to self-reliance in defence technology. The company employs two propulsion systems—Electric Ducted Fan (EDF) and micro-turbojet engines—to cater to diverse operational requirements, further enhancing the system’s flexibility and mission-specific adaptability.

Artemon Aerospace’s success in these trials positions it as a significant contributor to India’s defence modernization, with its innovative, indigenously developed loitering munitions poised for operational deployment and further product launches in the near future.

IDN (With Agency Inputs)